We have been social distancing and doing "distance learning" now for 3 weeks, plus one week of spring break. It's definitely a work in progress for the school, teachers, students, and parents. I feel like every day things change just a bit. I can't even imagine how challenging it must be for teachers (especially teachers who also have kids at home) to learn a completely new way of teaching during this time. Our kids' teachers have been incredible.
Andrew's workload is the heaviest since he's the oldest, and I like that they're trying to keep him occupied and learning. They have a conference call (Zoom meeting) at the beginning of each week for the teachers to lay out the work for the week, and they also have daily Zoom meetings at 2pm for kids who want to socialize, ask questions, etc. Andrew has been working on math some days with his friend via Zoom meetings, and the rest he's been good about completing on his own time. His time management has been pretty impressive.
Nate is in 3rd grade and so his workload is lighter. He has daily journaling, which is not his favorite, and a daily Math lesson that his teacher pre-records for the students to watch and then complete the corresponding workbook pages. Nate loves math and so I think he enjoys this part of distance learning best. He has also been very content to be at home alot although he misses his classmates. They have had biweekly Zoom meetings with his two teachers and all the students, which has been interesting to watch play out. All the kids understandably want to talk at once so it can be quite chaotic. He's also been having his weekly piano lesson via Zoom, which has gone pretty well.
Sam's teachers have given us great resources as well. They have recorded themselves reading books that we can play for him, and have hosted Zoom meetings where they do singing and movement. We have supplemented his "school" to include daily recording of a bean plant that has been growing, math worksheets, coloring, and more. He loves doing projects, keeping busy, and generally learning and creating.
Each school day I create a schedule based on the meetings each kid has. I also include free time, lunch, and screen time which usually falls at the end of the "school day" but sometimes it works better to put it earlier. I haven't stayed to a strict schedule but it helps me to at least strive for some kind of order. Our school days have shaped up to look like this:
9:30-10:30 or 11 - morning work. We all sit at the table (sometimes Andrew is on the couch or in his room).
11-12 - free time
12 - 1 - lunch and outside time
1 - 2 - someone usually has a zoom meeting at this time
2 - 3 - screen time
We probably get 1 - 2 hours of actual work time in. Serge has been great about either doing workouts with the boys or playing soccer or basketball. We've been taking walks as a family a fair amount. Serge and I have been grocery shopping at Kroger once a week. One Sunday morning we went on a grocery date which was pretty fun :) We have taken a few hikes closeby. We've been doing family church on Sundays after we tried our church's live streaming but it kept freezing on us. But basically, we've been at home (like everyone else!)
Serge has gone into work a few days but mostly has been working from our home office in the basement. I've been enjoying the downtime and not having to be anywhere. Before all this, we had a fair amount going on. Andrew had either soccer or track practice every single weekday. Nate had piano and praise gang at church, and Sam had just finished playing basketball and was starting soccer. Obviously, there was a lot of good in that busy-ness. I love seeing my kids enjoying activities and being with their friends. My life went from a lot of driving my people around to basically none. My kids are getting along better than ever these days. Some things we have done that we simply wouldn't have without the world changing suddenly like this - Serge and the boys dedicating a whole day (weekday!) to smoking a brisket, Andrew building me a raised bed garden to plant watermelon seeds in (they are growing beautifully!), enjoying weekday lunches and dinners together every day (before dinner was very rushed and usually we ate at different times!), and much more.
We realize the gravity of why all these changes are happening. Its an unprecedented time for everyone. We pray for those who are scared, sick and dying. We worry for our family members, especially those who are older or have conditions that make them more susceptible to complications from getting sick. There is just so much to mourn and worry about. But we can also choose joy in the parts of life that have changed for the better, even if only temporarily, because of what's happening.
Below are some pictures I've taken since we've been at this distance learning/social distancing thing. For the most part, I've been pretty ok with the chill, mostly peaceful time at home with my closest people.
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